Neuser: County fair will meet expectations

The Manitowoc County Board of Supervisors attend their last meeting in the UW-Manitowoc County Board Room April 11. Starting in May, the county board will meet on the second floor of the Heritage Center.(Photo: Alisa M. Schafer/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin)Buy Photo

MANITOWOC - Public Works Director Gerry Neuser assured the county board Tuesday that the 2017 county fair will be as good as — or better — than previous years.

In an annual presentation about the county’s Expo grounds, Neuser presented the work that will be put into the grounds to make it ready for the fair. Improvements include expanded parking areas, more camping sites and a special entertainment area.

“The bottom line to all this work is we are very certain that the fair-goers’ experience will be the same, or better, than what they have come to expect,” Neuser said.

The improvements were made necessary by the sale of 27.5 acres of Expo grounds to Meijer, which included the Manitowoc Speedway. The land was sold for $4.3 million, all of which was put into a special revenue account and marked to be used exclusively for Expo grounds improvements.

Neuser said by the end of 2017, there should still be $3.6 million left for use on the Expo grounds.

In 2016, the county used $120,000 to build a new multi-use building on the Expo grounds and plans to use another $550,000 to expand the parking lots and create a new entertainment area.

Neuser said the new entertainment area will have 2,500 seats and be large enough to host the truck pulls, demolition derbies and even a motorcycle stunt show. He said work will begin May 1 and is expected to be completed by June 15.

Jennell Krizek, Expo facility manager, said she expects as much sponsor participation as there had been in the past.

“The Manitowoc County Fair is fortunate to have sponsors that support us every year,” she said. “What I have found is that, even with the sale, people realize what a big community event that we are. We support the community in our own way by giving back by having events and they support us knowing the youth are involved in the county fair.”

Tuesday’s county board meeting was the last one to be held in the UW-Manitowoc County Board meeting room. Starting in May, the county board will be meeting on the second floor of the Heritage Center on Michigan Avenue.

“We should be all set for May 16 at the Heritage Center, so I am looking forward to that,” County Board Chairman Jim Brey said.

The new meeting space has been renovated and will include an updated voting system. The Aging and Disability Resource Center and the Veteran’s Service Office will also be moving to the Heritage Center as early as April 17.

Charitable contributions

A policy for charitable contributions via automatic payroll deductions was approved by the Finance Committee during its meeting April 10.

To be included in the payroll deduction program, nonprofits and charitable organizations that serve the Manitowoc County area will be required to submit an application and arrange for two elected officials to contact the county comptroller’s office on their behalf.

After the organization’s application is approved by the Finance Committee, the organization must obtain a minimum of 12 signed employee donation payroll deduction forms before Dec. 10 for the upcoming year.

Each organization will have to reapply each year to be included in the program.

“I think this addresses what a lot of supervisors’ concerns were — not only in the committee, but on the county board — in terms of having a defined process for organizations and nonprofits who want to participate in our automatic deduction,” committee member Todd Holschbach said. “We have a lot of organizations who want to do this, and I think we’ve created a fairly straightforward process.”

The policy will be set before the full county board in the form of a resolution during the May 16 meeting.